utopian fraud: the marquis de rays and la nouvelle-france · utopian studiýs 22.1 a fortune-teller...

Utopian Fraud: The Marquis de Rays and La Nouvelle-France

Author

Metcalf, Bill

Published

2011

Journal Title

Utopian Studies

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1353/utp.2011.0014

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Utopian Fraud: The Marquis de Rays and

La Nouvelle-France

BiffIvktcaf

ABSTRACT

While most attempts at creating utopian societies have ended in failure, few were asfraudulent as La Nouvelle-France on the island of New Ireland (now part of Papua

New Guinea).

Its founder, the Marquis de Rays, was a charismatic monomaniac who dreamedof creating a South Pacific utopia. He launched this scheme in i877 and soon investorspoured in money, and would-be utopian settlers joined up. During m88o-&x, several hun-dred people sailed on inadequate ships to where they expected to find utopia, but instead

found a swampy, malarial-infested wasteland, surrounded by cannibalistic neighbours.Some were killed while others died of disease and starvation before the survivors madetheir ways to Australia, New Zealand, other Pacific islands, or back to Europe.

At a sensational trial in Paris, The Marquis de Rays and several associates were

fined and sentenced to prison.

In a French courtroom in 1884, Charles Marie Bonaventure du Breil, betterknown as the Marquis de Rays, a French nobleman, was sentenced to impris-

onment for fraud. His crime concerned a utopian scheme undertaken "pour

Utopian Studies, Vol. 22, No. i, 2onCopyright D 2o11. The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA

BILL METCALF: Utopian Fraud

Dieu et pour la France" (for God and for France) that had led to exile, des-titution, and death for several hundred people who sought to establishLa Nouvelle-France in what is now Papua New Guinea.

La Nouvelle-France is arguably the biggest fraudulent utopian schemeever perpetrated.' Hundreds of investors and peasants lost their money and,in some cases, their lives. The governments of France, Belgium, Spain, andBritain, and several Australian colonies, also became involved. Descendants

of these would-be utopians celebrate their bad fortune, which eventuallybecame good fortune, in New Italy Museum, Australia, recording their ances-tors' suffering through the Marquis de Rays's fraudulent scheme.

In 1832, the Marquis de Rays was born into a distinguished, noble fam-

ily from the Brittany region of western France. Like most members of the

French nobility, this family had fallen on hard times during the revolutionwhen their castle, Quimerc'h, had been destroyed by angry peasants, and theyhad to flee to England to escape execution. They returned to France afterthe Napoleonic Wars, but their position was by then one of genteel poverty.,

C.A.- DU BRtEM M-qpfa to XQAti. YS

Figure l. The Marquis de Rays: Undated photo but most likely early i88o.Source: de Grooie M88o, io.

105

Utopian Studiýs 22.1

A fortune-teller reportedly told the young Marquis de Rays that he was

destined for greatness, that he would become a king under whose utopian

rule "the disinherited would have the better part and the proud would become

humble," and that he would "found a nation where the poor and lonely wouldlive a good life." He dedicated his life to realizing this dream, believing that he

had a divinely ordained mission to save the souls of "the black people." As a

youth, his friends referred to him as "the little colonist" because of his fantasies

about creating'a utopian community. When aged twenty, the Marquis de Rays

went to America, where he sought the adventurous life of a cowboy on a ranch

that he briefly managed, unsuccessfully. He then traveled to Senegal, where he

became a trader, mainly in peanuts, again failing, and then tried his luck as a

trader in Madagascar and Indo-China, again failing. His record was consistent-aiming for greatness but failing in whatever practical pursuits he tried.

In i88o, Dr. Paul de Groote, a Belgian medical doctor and member ofthe Scientific Society of Brussels (Soci6t6 Scientifique de Bruxelles), wrote

reverentially about his friend, the Marquis de Rays, in one of the most

important primary texts available:4 "His exterior, reflecting the sentiment of

his power, of his calm courage, and of his exquisite generosity, commands

respect and confidence. The Marquis de Rays is assuredly born to rule; he has

self-assurance, spontaneity, resolution, and a sharp eye; he possesses at the

same time a high degree of Christian virtues, military instinct, the genius of

the sailor, the foresight of the administrator and the enlightened impartiality

of a judge.", While preparing for his divinely ordained mission, the Marquisde Rays undertook "long and perilous ... trips, .... visited the most civilizedcenters of the world; he has penetrated the vast lands of Africa, of America,

of Asia and of Australia, always meditating on his mission. In those distant

and unexplored regions he has closely studied the morals and conduct ofuncivilized, savage tribes, by living amongst them."'

Utopia in the Idyllic South Seas

In July i877, the forty-five-year-old Marquis de Rays revealed to the world his

utopian scheme, which he hoped would ensure his greatness and restore himto the noble, divinely ordained position to which he felt entitled. He planned

to create a utopian society in the South Seas and advertised for people tojoin him.7 Given the poverty and disruption in France following the disastrous

io6


1'gure 2. Conditions: This is a copy of the flier that was provided to all investors andparticipants and which explains the utopia.

Source: de Groote 688o, Annexe VIL

Franco-Prussian War, many people were interested in escaping-particularly

to "utopia." In early 1879, the Marquis issued a formal prospectus, seeking

colonists for his utopian La Nouvelle-France.1

The Marquis de Rays first planned to establish this utopia in the Shark

Bay area, near Carnarvon, Western Australia. He argued, erroneously, that"no Government has any claim upon these vast tracts ... no savage people

and no settled tribe cultivates the ground-only a few wandering families

of timid blacks pass over the limitless waste. The land [therefore] belongs to

the first occupier.'"• Based on this assertion, he planned to claim the north-

ern two-thirds of Western Australia, an area about three times the size of

France. Not surprisingly, the British government, which held this area as

part of its empire, flatly refused. The Marquis bravely vowed to defy the

107

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British government: "We did think that, under the Australian sun-under

the sovereignty of Free England-there was room also for a French under-taking.... Nevertheless, we intend to carry to these new shores [Western

Australia] the sacred remembrance of our old country We will give it in

perfect freedom the grandest horizon, and its fertile sentiment will alone

support our work."10

George Collingridge, an English friend of the Marquis de Rays, recalled,

"During the late seventies [187os], when I was living at Fontenay aux Roses,near Paris, du Breil used to write to me concerning his mad scheme. Our

correspondence on the subject lasted a long time, and I received many printedpapers, maps, etc., relating to his scheme. He appeared quite astounded

when I informed him ýthat the independent French or Breton colony in

Western Australia would not be allowed either by the Colonial or by theBritish Government." Typical of the language of many utopian dreamers, the

Marquis de Rays "considered he had a right to start a settlement to be gov-erned by his own rules and regulations" and asserted that "to us, then, belongs

the future. On the ocean shore of a new port and a new country we shall estab-lish the perpetuity of our families and hand down our memory to posterity.""

Wisely, the Marquis de Rays abandoned foolhardy thoughts of invadingWestern Australia. Instead, he sought approval from the French government

to establish his utopian commune in New Caledonia or New Hebrides butwas quickly and firmly refused by French colonial authorities.':

Such "trivial" problems of international law did not deter the Marquis deRays. He next read an account by Louis Duperrey, commander of the explo-ration ship Coquille, who had visited southern New Ireland for several days inAugust .8i3 and described it as a veritable Garden of Eden. The Marquis de

Rays therefore announced that his utopia, "La Nouvelle-France," would be

established on New Ireland (now part of Papua New Guinea), which, withgreat commercial optimism and geographical imprecision, he described as

being on the sea route between China and Australia.'"

The Fantasized Climate and Environment of La Nouvelle-France

Having never seen or even been anywhere near the selected site, the Marquisde Rays nevertheless proclaimed it to be paradise: 'Although under thetorrid zone, these lovely islands, caressed day and night by refreshing sea

breezes, share the ocean temperature on which they are gracefully sited;

i08


they relish a perpetual springtime, rarely bothered by hurricanes, volcanoes

and earthquakes, everywhere presenting the most enchanting scenery."'4 Hedescribed the extraordinarily healthy climate of New Ireland as "excellent.Climatological studies of this magnificent oasis proves that epidemics areunknown and impossible there. Someone who would die in our Europe wouldlive a long life under this beneficial climate." And in spite of all that was known

about the serious, frequently fatal, health problems faced by Europeans liv-ing in the tropics, he claimed that at La Nouvelle-France, "there are neverepidemics of fever or other infectious diseases; nor acute respiratory diseases;these infections do not find there conditions needed for their germination

or development; never are there abrupt changes in temperature, and the tran-sition of heat from night to day is of less than one degree."'" Not only was this

a climatic paradise, but each individual could choose the subclimate she orhe preferred and grow a wide range of temperate and tropical crops because"climatic zone changes depend on elevation as well as proximity to the ocean.

Altitude, just like latitude, follows the same isotherm lines and shows varia-tion of fauna and flora as one climbs higher. At the bottom of the mountain

one finds plants that correspond to the climate of the region; as one climbshigher, the vegetation of the plain gives way to vegetation of cooler regions.Therefore, whether one climbs higher or moves towards the pole, one willcross successive vegetation and tree zones."

This veritable Garden of Eden was surely the answer to any European

peasant farmer's dreams because "inexhaustibly fertile soil, abundant sunlightand the precious advantage of excellent conditions... are exceptionally favor-able to developing and maintaining flourishing, long-lasting health."''7 In con-

trast, a British official who inspected the chosen site described the soil as being"of a sandy, unfertile nature which made agriculture impossible."'8 Another

European with experience in New Ireland colorfully described the site as "themost sodden, dank, squashy and appalling place on the globe."' 9 Nevertheless,the sycophantic Dr. Paul de Groote's readers were assured that utopia wouldbe realized there through the unbounded abilities and profound wisdom of hisleader: "These are the exceptional conditions provided by this privileged landwhich was chosen by the Marquis de Rays for this free and Christian colonyAll these measures taken by the promoter demonstrate a remarkable wisdom;

they follow the rules of good hygiene appropriate to these lands as particularlyunderstood by the leader of this enterprise. All the factors and details aboutthis enterprise reflect the initiative of a man of experience; they demonstrate a

lo9

Uitopian StudieS 22.1

profound knowledge about the resources which are provided by this rich land,and provide a firm conviction about the complete success of this enterprise.-°

Land Acquisition

The island of New Ireland was not under colonial rule, hence there was nocentral government with which the Marquis de Rays could have negotiated

even if he had wished to.' Hugh Romilly, a British colonial official who visitedNew Ireland in July 1883, reported, "There has been little communication

between the inhabitants of New Ireland and white men. They bear the repu-tation of being treacherous savages, and up to the present time they have fullyjustified their bad character.""1 New Ireland's dense population was ruled by

numerous local chiefs, some more despotic than others, whose followerswere in frequent conflict, and cannibalism was widely practiced.23

Never having been anywhere near New Ireland, the Marquis de Rayspraised these violent, disputatious, and cannibalistic natives as being "simple

children of nature . . . looking forward with rapture to the advent of the

colonists, and to the prospect of becoming citizens of the Free Colony, andbeing recognized as Frenchmen, and helping the settlers cultivate the vine,

etc., and being admitted into the fold of Christianity."4 Given this, the mar-quis inexplicably decreed that "as a precaution against any eventuality, a small

fort or block-house will be built immediately after the island is claimed, andwithin its walls will be the administrative buildings as well as the homes ofemployees and future immigrants.""'

Intended Governance

The Marquis de Rays drew up an elaborate outline of how utopian

La Nouvelle-France would be governed and, not surprisingly, decreed that heshould be the "absolute head, the only master, the creator and the supremejudge in Nouvelle-France's government." There would be no need to fear thisbecause he would not be "arbitrary, despotic or capricious" because his author-

ity would be "based on the principles of a supreme order," with "rules and reg-ulations... inspired by Christian sentiments with which the colonists agree."Only to God and the Roman Catholic Church, "this most ancient, respectable,and respected religion," would he "subordinate his deeds and his powers."'"6

IIO

BILL METCALE: Utopian Fraud

Practical administration would be undertaken by "Carthusian andTrappist monks and brothers, who excel in this type of work" and whomthe Marquis de Rays would induce to join this venture.27 Under them, "thecolonial administration will achieve its humanitarian goals."28

Government, with the Marquis de Rays at the top and with Christianmonks and brothers as administrators, would have an intermediate social

stratum composed of elements of the old French nobility.9 The Marquis deRays claimed that this complex, hierarchical social and political system wouldbe legitimized by international support: "The acquisition of Nouveau-Francetoday, and the special and increasing support of Spain for this work, the con-stant protection of United States, the sympathetic encouragement of theRepublic of Liberia, the impartiality of England, and the impartial judgmentof other powers whose names it would be premature to announce, makes thetime opportune for the creation of a perpetual nobility based on the model

of the landed estates of England."10 To reassure would-be colonists that theirinterests would be ensured by these layers of civil and clerical elites, the mar-

quis promised, "The French civil code, modified along Catholic principles,has been adopted for the colonial administration. The Catholic religion isthe state religion. Personal liberty of conscience is assured for all colonists.Political legislation and social order are based on the principles of the Catholicreligion. The priests, monks, missionaries, and nuns will be established inthe colony, as well as doctors, justices of the peace, judges, etc. The com-mune shall conduct itself with taxation and management in its best interests.The armed forces will be comprised of policemen, gendarmes and soldiers.Military service is voluntary."'"

Although there is not a shred of evidence that the Marquis de Raysever seriously contemplated joining those whom he was inducing to join

La Nouvelle-France, these would-be utopians were nevertheless reassured thathe "will live in the colony with his family." But, before leaving France, he "willtake all steps necessary to ensure the full establishment of the colony." Only

when all difficulties had been resolved would he go to La Nouvelle-France tojoin in "the development and expansion of this grand and beautiful enterprise."2

Finding Recruits

Dr. Paul de Groote, working on behalf of the Marquis de Rays, edited theirnewspaper, La Nouvelle-Francey This widely distributed newspaper was

lII

Lrtopian Studils 22.

"profusely illustrated by old engravings purporting to picture South Seasislands scenery, Prospective investors were showered with pamphlets andprospectuses. For a consideration, they could also procure a portrait of theMarquis (for sixty centimes), a map of Port-Breton (one franc), a map of LaNouvelle-France, either in an 'ordinary' edition (fifty centimes) or in a deluxeedition (one franc) and, finally, (for two francs) the 'March of Port-Breton,'composed by the Liberian consul in Paris, one Dr. Febrer, and dedicated tothe founder of the colony",,

While the Marquis de Rays was a rabid French nationalist, and whileLa Nouvelle-France would reflect the glories of the Ancien R&gime of

prerevolutionary France, its residents need not be French: "The agricul-tural colony at Port-Breton is a French project; but while French nationalswill be the majority, there will also be Belgians, Swiss, Spaniards, Italiansand English, etc. There will also be Malays, Indians, Chinese and nativeworkers; all being free men.""5 Each would-be colonist who could investi,8oo francs (about £76 or USs3oo) was promised transportation to this SouthPacific utopia, plus a ready-built house of four rooms and twenty hectares(fifty acres) of land already cleared and ready for cultivation. From this mod-est investment they could grow crops such as sugar and coffee for which they

were guaranteed "to receive a veritable fortune ... without any risk.""• Peoplelacking this modest capital could take part for free as long as they agreed towork for the community for five years, at the end of which time they wouldreceive the same house and land package as had the others. Hard labor wouldbe done by coolies imported from China and Malaya or by natives at thebottom of the social hierarchy This was to be a utopia only for Europeans,7

Fantasies of idealized societies flourishing within the warm, South Pacificwaters had, of course, been a potent and recurrent theme within Europeanmythology for several centuries, so this scheme, as bizarre as it now appears,caught popular attention:" "From Francis Bacon on, the Pacific was the homeof Utopias, and the dream of an Austral land seduced alike philosphes andhard-headed propagandists for Trade and Empire." The Marquis de Rays wasa prime example of "the dreaming founders not of trading colonies but ofideal... commonwealths, who found in Terra Australis or thereabouts a fit-

ting locale for their wild imaginings."9The Marquis de Rays's dream of creating a South Pacific utopia attracted

hundreds of Europeans, a broad range of dreamers, social misfits, speculative

capitalists, adventurers, no-hopers, desperate peasants, and genuine utopia

112


seekers. For Italian and French peasants this was the chance for which they

had dreamed. With no idea that they were following either a charlatan ora mad man (or both), they surrendered all personal possessions and waitedto board the ships going to establish La Nouvelle-France, with high hopes

of prospering in this elitist and capitalist utopia.

The Marquis de Rays employed Edwige Schenini, from Milan, as one of

his recruiting agents. Schenini traveled through the Italian villages north of

Venice, particularly around Treviso, a seriously impoverished area that had

recently been devastated by wars between Austria and the newly formed

Republic of Italy Making outrageous claims on behalf of the Marquis de

Rays, Schenini attracted about 25o desperate Italian peasants and artisans tothis implausible utopian venture.4°

The Marquis de Rays induced members of the Missionaries of the SacredHeart to join La Nouvelle-France, offering free passage from Europe to the

colony plus "free food and lodging in the colony and officer-rank for all mis-sionaries; free lands for all their needs; a temporary chapel in the beginningand a church to be built as soon as possible; land-grants and facilities for

schools, supply of transport for the evangelization of the natives in various

parts of the island; [and] protection for missionaries as agents of the colony.""'Obviously, this offer was too good for missionaries to pass up.

Meanwhile, the Marquis de Rays proclaimed himself King Charles I and

came to believe that God had granted Divine guidance to rule despotically

over his imaginary domain of La Nouvelle-France. From within his guiseof King Charles I, he instructed his lieutenants how to manage the gullible,

unfortunate people who followed his utopian dreams: "I have conferred legit-

imate authority upon you as, I believe, I, myself, hold it from God. Neverallow your authority to be questioned. Even should an execution be neces-

sary to enforce your will, do not hesitate. "42

Establishment of La Nouvelle-France

Over five hundred would-be colonists, including the above-mentioned

peasants from Italy, sailed in four ships, Chandernagore, Genil, India, andNouvelle Bretagne, between 1879 and i88i, with the first detachment landing on

New Ireland on January i6, i88o.4 1 Instead of finding ready-built houses and

land cleared for cultivation, as promised, they found a swampy wasteland.

113

Utopian Studi[S 22.1

Even though their intention was to live together in a utopian community, avisiting missionary observed how quickly they became "quite dispirited, and

appeared to have no bond of union or comradeship amongst them.""Without a shred of evidence an Australian newspaper enthusiastically

reported that the "Marquis de Rays has organised one of the most completeand promising colonising expeditions yet heard of." The reporter, sitting

comfortably in Sydney, enthused that "no expense or energy has been sparedby the Marquis to make his enterprise a great success" and claimed that theseutopian communards "were received with apparent goodwill and friendliness

on the part of the natives... and no trouble is anticipated from them."45

Nothing, however, could be further from the truth! From the arrival

of the first settlers, this would-be utopian venture was a tragic, frequentlyfatal, failure. One observer wittily commented, "The colonists could con-

sider themselves lucky that there was not a reception committee of mad-

dened head-hunters. . . due to the fact that the local head-hunters had moresense than to build in the swamps."46 A visiting missionary reported, "Someof those who were sick were lying about in a most filthy condition, and some

were half naked. I saw some dreadful sights at this time which will not bear to

be reported in print." Surprisingly, this missionary also reported that some ofthe would-be utopians were Protestant, very odd given the Marquis de Rays's

intention of creating a Catholic utopia.47

The Italian peasants referred to above had sailed from Barcelona on

July 8, 188o, on the India, under CaptainJules Prevost. India, of 445 tons whenpreviously known as the Ferret, had been the subject of a famous maritimefraud wherein it had allegedly been lost in a storm at sea, and the insurancewas collected, after which it was discovered to have simply been renamed andrepainted and become the property of the Marquis de Rays. It was never clear

if he was directly involved in this scam, although it seems likely that he was.,'For sleeping quarters, India had shelflike beds along both sides and in

the center, where men, women, and children slept as best they could, withno privacy After a very difficult three-month voyage, with several births and

deaths, they reached New Ireland on October 14, 1880.49 They anticipatedfinding a bustling, paradisiacal settlement but instead found themselves in

a hostile environment, under threat from the natives whom they were dis-placing, and without the provisions or housing that had been promised. Onesurvivor recalled being "simply dumped upon this inhospitable and untillable

land, with cannibalistic savages in the surrounding woods."50

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BILL Mu'TCALF: Utopian Fraud

On November 13, i88o, almost a month after the Italian peasants had

arrived, Dr. George Brown, a Methodist missionary from nearby Duke

of York Island, visited and took a number of photographs of the group,

recording their sorry plight. In one photo, about twenty-five of the Italians

pose in front of temporary shelters made of branches covered with fabric,

probably old sails. The heavily clothed Italians stand in sharp contrast to three

naked natives, their inclusion in this photo suggesting that amicable relations

had been established with a few locals." Dr. Brown recorded that day:

The colonists, I found, had erected a large block house and several

other buildings, but little or nothing had been done in the way of cul-

tivation or of making provision for the supply of their wants. There

were abundant evidences in the settlement of the great preparations

which had been made in France for the success of the expedition.

A large steam boiler and fireplace were on the beach, together with a

great quantity of bricks.., to be used in the foundations of the cathe-

dral which they purposed building. They had also the machinery for

sugar refining, a steam crane, incubators, a sawmill, and agricultural

figure3. Italian would-be Utopians at La Nouvelle-France, November 13, i88o: This showsa number of the Italians in typical European dress, with several in some sort of uniform,and armed, plus several naked natives. Behind are the canvas tents in which most peoplewere still living.Source: Brown 19o8.

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UtOpian Studia 22.1

implements; but it was evident that there had been great carelessnessin shipping the material or in landing it, as they had cases of knifehandles without any blades, and a number of wheelbarrows, but nowheels. They had scarcely any axes, and the few spades with which

they were supplied appeared to be of the worst possible material.

They had no quinine and few other medicines.5

Into the midst of the tragic collapse of this utopian scheme, fresh

instructions from the Marquis de Rays arrived aboard the Nouvelle Bretagne, with"elaborate directions as to how to lay out the future city of this colony... to

set aside a portion for the 'noblesse,' another portion for the 'bourgeois,' anidanother for the 'ouvriers.' . . . to select a suitable site for the barracks for the'gendarmes,' and definite instructions were given as to the size and locality of

site on which the cathedral was to be erected."" One survivor recalled that theirmain building, "the blockhouse," with weatherboard walls, was "divided intosections ... about 14 to 16 feet wide (4-5m) to the depth of the shed, in this liveda lot of people .... At one end was the part used for the church, then came thedifferent families .... The priest made use of the church for a sleeping room."He also found that land "available for cultivation was very poor it consisted of aflat of no more than ioo acres (4oha) if that much.""

In spite of the hardships,.Dr. Brown was impressed that the Italian peas-

ants had started gardens and noted that the "women and children ... werecertainly doing their full share of the hard work necessary in clearing thedense scrub."" Meanwhile, these Italians were dying from tropical diseases,native attacks, and malnutrition. The promised support from France nevermaterialized, as the Marquis de Rays's fraudulent scheme collapsed undergross mismanagement and heartless indifference, while their appointed,interim leader, Captain Rabardy, went insane, adding to their miseries. 6

On February zo, i881, the remaining settlers, including the Italians,abandoned La Nouvelle-France and traveled to Noumea, New Caledonia, onthe India, their "disabled steamer ... having on board over 300 starving souls,with not a drop of water to drink .... When water and food were taken onboard a rush was made by the poor creatures."' After they arrived in Noumeaon March i2, French officials seized and sold their decrepit ship."

The Italians who reached Noumea were the lucky ones, even if they were

stranded and destitute. A British official in the area reported that six Italian menwho had earlier stolen away from La Nouvelle-France in a small boat reached

116

BILL METCALF: Utopian Fraud *

,qiunrc 4. La Nouvelle-France i88f: This woodcut shows people working in gardens in the

foreground, plus various huts and their stockade in the background, beyond the swampy area.

Source: Sydnme, Mail, 16 April Mift. 6i1.

the Solomon Islands, where five were immediately killed and eaten. The sixth,

Mr. Boero (or Buoro), was spared because he could entertain the locals bybursting into tears. He was sold to another tribe where he "became as big a can-

nibal as any of them." A year later, this man was sold to a labor-recruiting ship,

but when the crew washed him and discovered that he was "an Italian whocould not be sold into servitude, he was left at New Britain, as having no fur-

ther commercial value," by this time having become "hopelessly imbecile."59The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, whom the Marquis de Rays had

recruited to serve his community, had been unable to join the four chartered ves-sels but nevertheless managed to get to La Nouvelle-France. When they arrived,the project had already collapsed, with most settlers either dead or having fled.They recorded: "The pitiful remains of the colony of Nouvelle-France: somegraves on the sea shore, one large building called the blockhouse where most

of the colonists had lived and which served as dormitory, infirmary, kitchen andguardhouse; a few makeshift houses built of straw and tree branches, some

sm,all and overgrown vegetable gardens. Huge trees had been felled but the

flooding rains had washed away all attempts at cultivation."'

"117

L/ropian SttdiCes 22.1

The Fate of the Surviving Italian Peasants

The fate of these destitute, would-be utopian communal settlers strandedin Noumea became something of a cause c6l6bre in Australia. Since all the

Australian colonies were seeking migrants, the New South Wales colonialgovernment quickly agreed to bring the Italians to Sydney, where, it washoped, they would blend into the wider Australian society as laborers and

small farmers. On April 7, i88i, about two hundred Italian survivors landedat Sydney.' A reporter from the Sydney Morning Herald described the sceneon board the James Patterson when it reached Sydney Harbour:

The more one sees on board the more one is struck with the hor-rors of the whole insane attempt that has been the cause of suchmisery . . . Several poor women-two of them young girls of

eighteen to twenty-were stretched helpless, the victims of fever.One was a mother beside a child, lifted up to show that it was a liv-ing, or rather a dying skeleton. From another berth where anothersick mother was also languishing, a small parcel was handed to me.From its size and shape . . . I thought that it was an Italian doll

made of wood and rags. A movement of its head made me start,and my heart beat quicker on finding that it was a living child of,I supposed, a few days old.... I asked its age, when I was told it was

seven months old....

From the most careful inquiries made of the emigrants themselves

and those in charge of them, gross mismanagement and cruel decep-tion, if not criminal desertion of the colonists, are the only conclu-sions to be arrived at.6f

These Italian refugees requested a grant of land on which to collectively

settle. The government, having a clear policy against allowing settlementwithin ethnic enclaves, refused, instead encouraging them to separate andaccept employment as individuals. The Italians had "an almost insuperableobjection to being dispersed among the general population," while the gov-ernment had "an equally strong objection to making them a sort of colonywithin the colony... [by] settling on the land in a body."6' The government'swill prevailed, and the refugees were dispersed.4

u8


A year later, however, a number of these Italians started acquiring land

near the Richmond River, about seven hundred kilometers (five hundred

miles) north of Sydney, and there established a semicommunal settlement

known first as "La Cýa Venýssia" and later as "New Italy."', They set up com-

munal social structures to manage their community, even though the land

was privately owned. Speaking Italian, they declined to take part in local poli-

tics and, at first, had little to do with their non-Italian neighbors.

A contemporary observer described New Italy as a "prosperous little set-

tlement" with "happy and contented" members and opined that they should

be thankful that they had escaped "a spurious Utopia to dwell in a country

where the conditions of climate are like those of their own sunny Italy." He

wondered, however, if "they think sometimes of those of their former com-

rades who died... in the savage 'colony' of Charles du Breil.""

The full story of New Italy is too long to be included here, but this inten-

tional community grew to have over two hundred members by the start of

the twentieth century, after which it slowly shrank as members, particularly

the second generation, moved away from the constrictions of ethnically based

communal life and embraced individualism. The New Italy School dosed in

1933, and the last resident died in 1955.67

The Fate of the Marquis de Rays

Hugh Romilly, a British official sent to New Ireland to investigate this utopian

fraud, summed up his report by saying, 'Altogether a more disgraceful scheme

was never planned," and this led several countries to seek to punish the perpe-

trator.61 On July 15, 1882, the Marquis de Rays was arrested in Spain, to which

he had fled, and transported to France, where he was tried for embezzlement:

"The court sat breathless as the pitiful story was unfolded and eyes filled with

tears [at] accounts of the disease and distress that had thinned the ranks of

the little colony." In January 1884, he was fined and sentenced to four years in

prison (on top of the eighteen months he had already been incarcerated). As

well, several of his underlings were sentenced to prison.69

Once out of prison in 1888, the Marquis de Rays operated briefly as a

gigolo, specializing in preying on rich American women, and tried several more

fraudulent schemes such as sellingfinely ground granite as gunpowder, prior to

his death on July 29, 1893.70 The well-known American writer James Michener

119

(t-opiau StWi~eS 22.1

described the Marquis de Rays: "Of all the criminals who have pillaged the

South Pacific, the most brutal and callous was a-gentleman who never reachedthat region. Cynically, he defrauded thousands of their money, sent hundreds

to certain death, and lived in luxury on the proceeds of his villainy"7'

The Marquis de Rays's closest accomplice and his highly effective propagan-

dist, Dr. Paul de Groote, somehow avoided prison but lost his own money and

health. It is likely that de Groote negotiated his own freedom by turning "state's

witness" and testifying against de Rays, but the trial records cannot be found.

In 1884, after de Rays was imprisoned, de Groote, with his wife, Leontine, and

their six children, fled Europe and settled in Los Angeles. In America, they hoped

not only to escape the law but also to rebuild their fortunes lost through this

scheme. Several years later, the family returned to Belgium, where de Groote

died in i8go.7' One survivor described de Groote as being "equally dishonest"as de Rays and claimed that de Groote's writings were "a wicked, insidious lie,

cleverly worded in order to ensnare the credulity of his prey".3 There is no evi-

dence that Dr. Paul de Groote ever regretted his crucial role in this scheme that

led to the deaths of many naive, would-be utopian settlers.

Summary and Condusion

The wonder is not that La Nouvelle-France collapsed as a utopian communal

venture but, rather, that it managed to be established in New Ireland. While

many died there, about two hundred others escaped to Australia to establish

another semi-utopian community that has long since collapsed. Today, beside

the busy Pacific Highway between Sydney and Brisbane, a cairn attests, in

Italian and English, to this failed utopian social experiment, while a small

museum houses a few artifacts plus an Italian caf6 serving tourists.

jVfotes

i. I have discussed this assertion with other utopian scholars such as Professors Lyman"Tower Sargent and Toby Widdicombe without them suggesting a bigger fraudulent

scheme, so my assertion stands until contrary evidence arises.

2. Most of the demographic information has been gleaned from secondary sources,

and although most are poorly referenced they appear to be consistent and so have been

tentatively accepted. Primary source verification has been followed whenever possible.

120


3. Bogershausen n.d. (ca. i9oo), i; and Niau 1936, 1-4.

4. Paul de Groote was born March 27, 1836, and became a medical doctor in Brussels.

He somehow connected with the Marquis de Rays, through whom he became "Consul

General of New France," and, afterJune 1879, edited La Nouvelle-France newspaper, the

main propaganda arm of this utopian scheme. In 188o, de Groote published a sycophan-

tic book called Nouvelle-France, Colonic Libre de Port-Breton (based on information provided

to me by members of the de Groote family, Belgium; see also Biskup 1974, 12-13).

5. De Groote 188o, 14: "Son ext6rieur, reflet du sentiment de sa force, de son courage

calme, de sa bont6 exquise, impose le respect et la confiance. Le Marquis de Rays est

assur6ment n6 pour le commandement; il en a l'assurance, la spontan&it6, ]a r6solution,

la prEcision du coup d'ceil; il possýde A la fois A un haut degrý les vertus chritiennes,

I'instinct militaire, le g6nie du marin, la pr&voyance de l'administrateur, et l'impartialit6

6clair6e du jurisconsulte." The original French text is provided here for the first quotefrom this very important book, as well as the translation by Estelle Gaillard, my Ph.D.

student, and me. To save space, only the English translation is provided henceforth.

6. Ibid., 16. A later scholar, McMahon, has described de Groote's book as "a master-

piece of rhetoric and imagination" (r982, 12). There is no evidence that the Marquis de

Rays ever came anywhere near Australia.

7. The concept of a South Pacific utopia has had a long history in Western Europe.

See, for example, Fausett 1993; Friedrich 1967; and Gibson 1984.

8. L)u Breil r879.

9. Collingridge i923, 14.

io. Sydney Daily Telegraph, t8 March 188o, 2; and Collingridge 1923, 14.

it. Collingridge 1923, 14.

iz. D)u Breil 1879, 19; and Clifford 1889, 4.

13. Du Breil 1879, 13, 20.

14. De Groote 1880, 35.

15. ibid., 86, 51.

16. Ibid., 1o2. See also du Breil 1879, 13.

17. D)c Groote 188o, i2.

j8. Romilly 1886, 197.

19. Beck 1899, 237.

20. De Groote 188o, 122.

2i. Three years later, in 1884, New Ireland was seized by the German navy, and it

became part of Germany's colony of Kaiser-Wilhelmsland, otherwise known as German

New Guinea. Today it is part of Papua New Guinea.

22. Romilly 1886, 39.

23. Ibid., 38-62.

24. Beck 1899, 235.

25. De Groote 188o, 125. See also du Breil 1879, 14-15.

26. De Groote-88o, 82.

27. Dlu Breil 1879, 14.

28. De Groote i88o, 76.

1121

Iftopian StudiVY 22.1

29. Du Breil 1879, 7-8.

30. De Groote 188o, 166.

31. Ibid., 150.32. Ibid., 124.

33. Du Brefl 1879, 15.

34. Biskup 1974, 13.

35. Ibid., 79-8o.

36. Du Breil 1879, 9, '1. Offices were established in Paris at 5 rue de ]a Ville-l'EvEque and

in Marseille at ii rue de la R1publique. The application forms to be used to subscribe to

this utopia can be found in ibid., zi-22.

37. Ibid., 9-11; de Groote i88o, 123-5o; Clifford 1889, 1; and Sydney Morning Herald,

9 April i881, 3.

38. See, for example, Fausett 1993, 1994; Lansdown 2006; Longley i999; Rennie 1995;

Smith 1984; and Spate 1988.

39. Spate 1988, 69, 82.

40. Bernardi 1994, 33-79; Thompson 1980, 3, and Pryor 1986, i-9.

41. McMahon 1982, 12. See also Dupeyrat 1934.

42. Niau 1936, 2o-2i.

43. Sceusa 1881, 9-zi.

44. Brown 19o8, 359.

45. Sydney Morning Herald, 18 March 188o, 5, 7.

46. Tudor 1949, 43.

47. Brown 19o8,359.

48. Nicholson 1993,171.

49. Sceusa 1881, 21.

50. Piccoli 1944, 6.

51. Brown 19o8, 358-67.

52. Ibid., 363-64. A photograph between pages 354 and 355 shows the discarded steam

boiler. A millstone, about 1.5 meters across, still can be seen in a park in the nearby city

of Rabaul.

53. Sceusa r881, 51-53; and Brown 19o8, 362. Ouvrier refers to a workman.

54. Biskup 1974, 5o-51.

55. Brown i9o8,367-68.

56. Sceusa 1881, 24-28.

57. Sydney Morning Herald, 24 March 1881, 6.

58. Sceusa 1881, 28; Sydney Morning Herald, z4 March i88i, 6; and Sydney Mail,

26 March 1881,501.

59. Romilly 1886, 14-15; Pryor 1986, 30; and Biskup 1974, 62.

60. McMahon 1982, 16.

61. Sydney Morning Herald, 8 April 1881, 3-5, and 9 April 1881, 3; Sydney Daily Telegraph,

9 April 1881, 7, and ri April. 881, 3; and Marsh and Wise 1881.

62. Sydney Morning Herald, 9 April 1881, 3.

63. Ibid., 22 April 188i, 5.

122.


64. Sceusa 1881, 39-41.

65. CMa is dialect for small, while Venbissia is dialect for the region around Treviso, north

of Venice. The phrase "La C6a Ven&ssia" is the dialect name for the region from where

these people had come.

66. Beck 1899, 243.

67. Harrigan 2oo6; Thompson 198o; and Volpato 1983.

68. Romilly 1886, 199.

69. Vermont 1884; and Biskup 1974, 52, 55.

70. Niau 1936, 086-89.

7I. Michener 1957, 51.

72. Information derived from the records of Celine de Groote, sister of Dr. Paul de

Groote, and contained in an e-mail (February 22, 2oo8) to the author from Philippe de

Groote, France, a direct descendant of Dr. Paul de Groote.

73. Piccoli 1944, 5.

Works Cited

Beck, Louis. Ridan the Devil and Other Stories. London: T Fisher Unwin, 1899.

Bernardi, Ulderico. A Catdr Fortuna. Treviso: Giunta Regionale del Veneto, r994.

Biskup, Peter, ed. The New Guinea Memoirs of Jean Baptiste Octave Mouton. Canberra:

Australian National University Press, 1974.

Bogershausen, Georg. Das Paradies der Suedsee. Monograph held by the Fryer Library,

Brisbane, n.d. (ca. igoo).

Brown, George. George Brown, D. D. Pioneer-Missionary and Explorer: An Autobiography.

London: Hodder and Stouton, 19o8.

Clifford, Charles. New Italy: A Brief Sketch of a New and Thriving Community. Sydney:

Charles Potter, Government Printer, 1889.

Collingridge, George. "Colonization by Prospectus." Forum: AJournal for Thinking

Australians i, no. z4 (April 11, 1923): 14.

de Groote, Paul. Nouvelle-France, Colonie Libre de Port-Breton. Paris: Soci6t6 G6n6rale de

Libraire Catholique, i88o.

du Breil, Charles. La Colonie Libre de Port-Breton. Marseille: Typographie et Lithographie

Marius Olive, 1879.Dupeyrat, Andre. Papouasie. Paris: Dillen, 1934.

Fausett, David. Images of the Antipodes in the Eighteenth Century. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1994.

. Writing the New World. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1993.

Friedrich, Werner. Australia in Western Imaginative Prose Writings i6oo-ig6o. Chapel Hill:

University of North Carolina Press, 1967.

Gibson, Ross. The Diminishing Paradise. Sydney: Angus and Robertson, 1984.

Harrigan, Rosemary They Were Expeditioners. Werribee, Australia: Rosemary Harrigan, 2oo6.

Lansdown, Richard. Strangers in the South Seas. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2006.

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Longley, Paul. "Fantasies of the Antipodes." In Imagining Australian Space: Cultural Studies

and Spatial Inquiry, ed. R. Barcan and I. Buchanan, 37-46. Nedlands: University

of Western Australia Press, 1999.

Marsh, James, George Wise. Italian Immigrants Inquiry Board. Sydney: Government

Printer, 188x.

McMahon, John. "The Marquis and the Missionaries.'" Annals Australia:Journal of Catholic

Culture, October 1982: io-i6.Michener, James. Rascals in Paradise. London: Secker and Warburg, 1957.

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Nicholson, Ian. Log of Logs. Nambour, Australia: Sunstrip Printers, 1993.

Piccoli, Giacomo. Chronicle of New Italy's Early Settlement. Monograph dictated to

P. Malone and now held by the Richmond River Historical Society. Woodburn,

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Pryor, Philip. "New Italy-A Refuge from Misadventure." M.A. thesis, University of

Sydney, 1986.

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and Co., 1881.

Smith, Bernard. European Vision and the South Pacific. Sydney: Harper and Row, 1984.

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124

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Utopian Fraud: The Marquis de Rays and La Nouvelle-France

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